Andrew Polwarth Describes Brief Overview of Manufacturing Process of a Soccer Ball

Andrew Polwarth said since ancient times, people have played games comparable to contemporary soccer all across the world. The Chinese game of tsu-chu, which was purportedly established by Emperor Huang-Ti in 1697 B.C., is the oldest known soccer-like game. A game with a leather ball packed with animal hair and the cork was described in Huang-period. Ti’s two teams competed to kick the ball through the goalposts. In the same era, the Japanese played a similar game called kemari. Although it was a ceremonial game performed as part of a fertility ceremony, a North African game from the seventh century B.C. was related to soccer.  The ancient Greeks played a game in which they kicked and threw a ball over a defined field. Espiskyros was the name given to it according to Andrew Polwarth.

Greek Games

Later on, the Romans had similar games, which were most likely developed from Greek games. Follis was a Roman game that used a huge light ball loaded with hair. The participants in follis attempted to hold the ball in the air by using their hands. Another name for it was harpastum. Players attempted to attack the person holding the ball in this harsher version of the game. Harpastum was well-liked by Roman troops, and it quickly spread throughout Italy and ultimately the Roman Empire. The game was imported to England, and its history became increasingly focused on the United Kingdom. Although there are persistent legends about games performed with human heads, the balls used in early Britain were most likely constructed from inflated animal bladders.

At several Dark Age revelries, the skulls of either Roman or Viking oppressors were believed to be tossed around. In pre-Christian days, the British may have had a soccer-like game played with an animal’s head, which was utilized as a fertility ceremony. This evolved into a Shrove Tuesday game in the middle Ages. Teams competed by kicking an animal’s head around their farm grounds. The winning team was allowed to bury the skull on their land, ostensibly ensuring a healthy crop. Soccer (then known as football) had grown into a brutal street game by the 1300s, with opposing mobs injuring one other and crashing into houses and businesses in their quest to get the ball through the goalposts. In 1314, King Edward II made the game illegal, and future monarchs had to renew the ban as stated by Andrew Polwarth.

Popular Among British Army Men

Football was popular among British army men, as it was among Roman soldiers, and they allegedly abandoned their military training to play.  The game was played in the streets of England at least until the seventeenth century, but it became an upper-crust pastime in the nineteenth century, with students at British public schools and universities playing it. Each school had its own set of regulations, and the first standardized soccer rules were issued in 1862 to allow graduates from various institutions to play together. The English Football Association was founded in 1863.

Ruggers was the game played at Rugby, while soccer was the game played according to the Football Association regulations, according to British college student terminology at the time. When the English Football Association was established and official soccer regulations (based on Eton standards) were formed, several game intricacies that had developed at the Rugby school were eliminated. Hacking (violently scraping) the ball while running with it Rugbeian teams declined to join the Football Association because the Cambridge rules did not allow for hitting the ball with the boot to pull it away from the player or tripping the player going with the ball.

Materials in their natural state

Engineered cowhide, by and large polyurethane or polyvinyl chloride, is sewn around a swelled elastic or elastic-like bladder in a typical soccer ball. Older balls were made of real leather and had cotton strings to keep them closed. A valve is included in modern balls. Fabric, generally polyester or a poly-cotton blend, is used to back the synthetic leather panels as per Andrew Polwarth. A latex adhesive holds the backing in place. The ball is round and must be no larger than 28 inches (71.12 cm) in diameter and no smaller than 27 inches in diameter for regular play (68.6 cm). It must be no less than 14 oz. (0.392 kg) and no more than 16 oz. (0.448 kg) in weight, and it must be filled to a pressure of 15 lb. per sq. in (6.8 kg per sq. cm).

The Manufacturing Methodology

The soccer ball is made up of two primary components. The inside bladder is one, while the outside covering is the other. Occasionally, the entire soccer ball is manufactured under one roof. In many situations, the bladders are made in a central facility, and the covers are die-cut and stamped with logos, while the stitching is done by hand elsewhere. The ball covering is made up of 32 hexagonal panels that are manually stitched together, which is a time-consuming and precise process. Andrew Polwarth stated that Pakistan produces more than 80% of the world’s soccer balls.

Fabric for the cover lining

To reinforce the material, synthetic leather sheets are backed with numerous layers of fabric. The sheets are run through a press, which affixes the fabric using a latex adhesive. A two-layer backing will be applied to the material for a less expensive ball. Four layers of fabric will be added to a more durable, more costly ball.

Panels must be cut

The sheets of synthetic leather are fed into a die-cutting machine when the glue has cured completely. Workers feed the material into the die cutter, which punches the stitch holes and creates the hexagonal panels.

The panels’ imprinting

Following that, some of the chopped panels are moved to a screening area. Workers silkscreen the panels one at a time, putting the manufacturer’s emblem on each one. This is done with paint that dries quickly.

Creating a bladder

Natural or synthetic rubber can be used to make the bladder. The raw material is gently heated before being pressed into a mold to make a balloon. The material wrinkles as it cools. The bladders are then removed and slightly inflated to smooth them out.

Final assembly and stitching

The balls are now ready to be put together. The stitcher’s kit contains the 32 panels as well as the bladder. A pattern is used by the stitcher to aid him or her in putting the panels together in the correct order. The panels are hand-stitched together by the stitcher. The stitcher inserts the bladder and sews the last seams after sewing the cover. The ball is finished. A worker pumps up the ball to ensure that the bladder is not pierced by a needle during sewing. At this stage, the ball may be weighed and measured. The completed ball is then deflated and packaged for transportation.